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UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 


A  Memorial  Discourse 


LIFE  AND  SERVICES 


HENEY  SDIMONS  IRIEZE,  LL  1). 

PROFESSOR  OP  THE  LATIN  LANGUAGE  AND  LITERATURE 
I\  THE  UNIVERSITY  PR03I  1854.  TO  1889. 


Delivered  in  University  Hall  by  request  of  the  Senate, 
March   16,  1 890,  by 

JAMES  B.  ANGELL,  LL.  I). 

PRESIDENT  OP  THE  UNIVERSITY. 


UNIVEESITY  OF  MICHIGAN. 


A  Memorial  Discourse 


LIFE  AND  SERVICES 


HENRY  SIMMONS  FRIEZE,  LL.  D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   THE   LATIN  LANGUAGE   AND   LITERATURE 
IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  FROM  1854  TO  1889. 


Delivered  in  University  Hall  by  request  of  the  Senate, 
March   16,  1890,  by 

JAMES  B.  ANGELL,  LL.  D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY. 


PUBLISHED  BY    THE  UNIVERSITY. 
1890. 


Lj 


REGISTER  PUBLISHING  CO.,  ANN  ARBOR,  MICH. 


PROCEEDINGS 

ON  THE  DEATH  OF 


HENRY  SIMMONS  FRIEZE,  LL.  D. 


ACTION  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  SENATE. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  University  Senate,  held  Decem- 
ber 7,  1889,  the  following  memorandum,  relative  to  the 
death  of  Professor  Henry  S.  Frieze,  was  ordered  to  be 
recorded  in  the  minutes: 

In  the  death  of  Professor  Frieze,  who  passed  into  eternal  rest  this 
morning,  the  Senate  is  called  to  mourn  the  loss  of  one  who  for  a  long 
period  of  years  has  rendered  the  University  conspicuous  and  inestimable 
service.  In  view  of  this  event  the  Senate  desires  to  spread  upon  its  rec- 
ords the  following  minute  as  an  expression  of  its  sense  of  bereavement 
and  as  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  of  its  most  distinguished  and 
beloved  members. 

Henry  Simmons  Frieze  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  Septem- 
ber 15, 1817,  and  died  in  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  December  7, 1889,  in  his 
seventy-third  year. 

In  his  early  youth  his  family  removed  to  Rhode  Island,  where  they 
continued  to  reside.  He  was  prepared  for  college  in  a  private  school  at 
Newport,  and  entered  Brown  University  at  the  age  of  twenty.  He  pur- 
sued the  regular  course  of  study,  and  was  graduated  at  the  head  of  his 
class  in  1841.  He  was  immediately  called  to  a  tutorship  in  the  Univer- 
sity, which  position  he  held  for  three  years.  He  then  became  one  of  the 
proprietors  and  principals  of  the  University  Grammar  School,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  work  till  1854.  In  that  year  he  accepted  the  Professor- 
ship of  Latin  in  the  University  of  Michigan,  then  under  the  Presidency 
of  Dr.  Tappan,  and  held  that  position  uninterruptedly  for  thirty-five 
years.  During  that  period  he  also  discharged  the  duties  of  Acting  Pres- 
ident at  two  different  times— first  for  two  years,  from  1869  to  1871,  after 
the  resignation  of  President  Haven,  and  again  for  nearly  two  years  in 
1880-81,  while  President  Angell  was  absent  as  Minister  to  China. 


During  his  connection  with  the  University  he  twice  visited  Europe 
on  leave  of  absence— first  for  a  single  year  in  1855-6,  and  again  for  two 
years  at  the  close  of  his  Acting-Presidency  in  1871.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  first  of  these  visits,  he  was  commissioned  to  purchase  for  the  Uni- 
versity casts  and  pictures  for  illustrating  classical  antiquities  and  art; 
and  from  that  time  dates  the  foundation  of  our  Art  Museum,  which  he 
fostered  and  cared  for  so  assiduously  during  all  the  remaining  years  of 
his  life. 

To  few  men  has  it  been  given  to  serve  the  University  in  so  many 
varied  ways  and  to  be  the  originator  of  so  many  of  the  ideas  and  plans 
that  have  shaped  its  life  and  character.  He  brought  to  his  work  a  broad 
and  fertile  mind,  and  a  rare  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  by  which  he 
could  discern  the  right  time  for  doing  the  right  thing.  The  success  of 
many  innovations  and  changes  in  the  established  order  of  study  and  dis- 
cipline is  largely  due  to  his  wise  and  gentle  guidance.  To  the  first 
period  of  his  Acting-Presidency  are  to  be  credited  the  admission  of 
women  to  all  Departments  of  the  University,  the  institution  of  the 
diploma  system,  by  which  graduates  of  approved  high  schools  are  admit- 
ted without  further  examination,  and  the  beginning  of  large  appropria- 
tions to  the  University  by  the  State  Legislature.  He  had  an  important 
share  in  the  introduction  of  the  elective  system  which  has  done  so  much 
during  the  past  ten  years  to  transform  the  University.  To  him  also  is 
chiefly  due  the  introduction  of  musical  studies,  and  the  promotion  of 
these  studies  in  the  University  and  the  community  at  large.  He  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  development  of  post-graduate  courses  of  study, 
and  was  untiring  in  his  eiforts  to  raise  the  University  to  the  highest 
level  of  broad  and  liberal  scholarship. 

The  publication  of  his  edition  of  Vergil  in  1860,  and  of  Quintilian  in 
1867,  has  made  his  name  widely  and  honorably  known  for  exact  schol- 
arship and  for  fineness  of  judgment  and  literary  taste.  These  works 
both  underwent  important  revision  and  enlargement  during  the  later 
years  of  his  life.  In  1886  was  published  in  London  his  charming  sketch 
of  the  Italian  sculptor,  Giovanni  Dupr^,  which  has  passed  through  two 
editions,  and  has  received  high  commendation  from  eminent  critics  in 
both  England  and  America.  In  addition  to  these  writings  there  is  a 
large  number  of  addresses  and  papers  scattered  through  various  period- 
icals and  the  publications  of  the  University.  Specially  worthy  of  note 
are  his  Memorial  Address  on  Dr.  Tappan,  his  Semi-Centennial  Address, 
and  his  Reports  as  Acting-President,  which  may  well  rank  among  the 
most  suggestive  and  valuable  contributions  to  the  problems  of  higher 
education  that  have  emanated  from  the  executive  office  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

His  high  services  to  the  cause  of  education  have  been  formally  recog- 


nized  by  various  institutions.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  Chicago  University  and  by  Kalamazoo  College  in 
1870;  by  Brown  University  in  1882;  and  by  the  University  of  Michigan 
in  1885.  In  1884  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  of  Philadelphia. 

It  was  Professor  Frieze's  great  success  as  a  teacher  in  Providence 
that  attracted  the  attention  of  the  authorities  of  the  University  towards 
him,  and  the  qualities  which  secured  success  there  did  not  fail  to  have 
their  legitimate  result  here.  He  possessed  the  essential  qualities  "of  a 
teacher.  With  a  keen  sense  of  the  great  importance  to  the  state  and  to 
society  of  clear  thinking,  he  always  sought  to  make  his  students  under- 
stand that  words  must  not  be  a  substitute  for  thoughts.  Feeling  pro- 
foundly the  robust  good  sense,  the  grace  and  charm,  the  keen  vision  into 
the  springs  of  human  action,  the  passionate  hatred  of  vice,  the  practical 
wisdom,  of  the  authors  who  were  read  in  his  classes,  he  knew  how  to 
inspire  in  all  his  students,  according  to  the  measure  of  their  capacity,  a 
similar  feeling.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  strongest  side  of  his  teach- 
ing; many  a  man  has  learned  for  the  first  time  in  Professor  Frieze's 
class-room  what  was  the  charm  of  great  poetry,  what  was  the  power  of 
noble  thoughts.  Yet  he  did  not  neglect  the  drier  part  of  his  work  in 
order  to  cultivate  what  was  more  agreeable.  Not  only  did  he  recognize 
the  disciplinary  value  of  a  thorough  grammatical  study,  but  he  felt  that 
to  appreciate  the  beauties  even  of  any  literature  a  more  than  superficial 
acquaintance  with  its  language  was  indispensable. 

In  his  relations  with  students  he  was  kindness  itself,  winning  the 
affection  of  all;  and  the  news  of  his  death  will  carry  grief  into  many 
widely  separated  households. 

He  was  always  and  everywhere  the  ideal  Christian  gentleman.  To 
him  may  be  applied  the  words  once  used  of  the  venerated  Dr.  Williams 
— "Thy  gentleness  hath  made  us  great ";  and  the  sentiment  of  his  own 
favorite  poet, — 

"  Virtus  repulsse  nescia  sordidse 
Intaminatis  f  ulget  honoribus," 

is  exemplified  by  him  who  ever  wore  the  white  flower  of  a  blameless 
life,  and  who  was  free  from  all  guile.  Modest  and  retiring,  and,  when 
there  was  need,  aggressive,  a  man  of  childlike  simplicity  and  abounding 
charity,  a  wise  counsellor,  a  steadfast  friend,  a  genial  companion,  the 
University,  the  community,  and  the  State  have  suffered  in  his  death  a 
loss  that  seems  irreparable.  With  his  native  refinement  and  delicate 
sensitiveness  was  combined  an  almost  passionate  love  of  the  beautiful, 
which  manifested  itself  in  an  exquisite  taste  and  in  an  ardent  devotion 
to  all  that  is  beautiful  in  nature  and  in  art.  This  feeling  found  fre- 
quent expression  in  music,  and  his  interpretation  of  the  great  masters 


6 

of  song  and  harmony  is  one  of  the  many  delightful  memories  that  will 
always  be  associated  with  his  name. 

Whatever  other  memorials  may  be  reared  in  his  honor,  the  Univer- 
sity is  in  a  high  sense  his  own  imperishable  monument,  while  in  our 
hearts  and  lives  his  name  and  spirit  shall  forever  abide. 

To  his  sorrow-stricken  family  the  Senate  desire  to  express  their  pro- 
found sympathy  in  this  time  of  great  trial,  and  to  invoke  for  them  the 
consolations  of  that  religious  faith  which  he  so  devoutly  cherished. 


MEMORIAL  SERVICES  IN  UNIVERSITY  HALL. 

On  Sunday,  March  16th,  1890,  Memorial  Services  in 
honor  of  Dr.  Frieze,  were  held  in  University  Hall.  A 
large  concourse  of  professors,  students,  and  citizens,  was 
present. 

The  selections  given  below  were  sung  by  the  Choral 
Union,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Stanley. 

The  order  of  exercises  was  as  follows: 

1.    Hymn.    "  Now  the  laborer's  task  is  o'er."    Music  by  Barnby. 

1.  Now  the  laborer's  task  is  o'er; 
Now  the  battle  day  is  past; 
Now  upon  the  farther  shore 
Lands  a  voyager,  at  last. 

Father,  in  Thy  gracious  keeping, 

Leave  we  now  Thy  servant  sleeping. 

2.  There  the  tears  of  Earth  are  dried; 
There  its  hidden  things  are  clear; 
There  the  work  of  life  is  tried 

By  a  juster  judge  than  here. 
Father,  in  Thy  gracious  keeping, 

Leave  we  now  Thy  servant  sleeping. 

3.  There  the  angels  bear  on  high 
Many  a  strayed  and  wounded  lamb, 
Peacefully  at  last  to  lie 

In  the  breast  of  Abraham. 
Father,  in  Thy  gracious  keeping. 

Leave  we  now  Thy  servant  sleeping. 


4.     "  Earth  to  Earth,  and  dust  to  dustl " 
Calmly  now  the  words  we  say; 
Left  behind,  we  wait  in  trust, 
For  the  resurrection  day. 

Father,  in  Thy  gracious  keeping, 

Leave  we  now  Thy  servant  sleeping. 

2.  Beading  of  the  Scriptures  and  Prayer  by  Professor  D'Ooqe. 

3.  Kequiem  by  Dudley  Buck. 

"  Requiem  dona  ei,  Domine, 
Et  lux  perpetua  luceat  ei." 

4.  Address  by  President  Angell. 

5.  Hymn.    "  Part  in  Peace."    Music  by  Gounod. 

Part  in  peace!  is  day  before  us? 
Praise  his  name  for  life  and  light; 
Are  the  shadows  lengthening  o'er  us  ? 
Bless  his  care  who  guards  the  night. 

Part  in  peace !  with  deep  thanksgiving, 
Rendering,  as  we  homeward  tread, 
Gracious  service  to  the  living, 
Tranquil  memory  to  the  dead. 

Part  in  peace!  such  are  the  praises 
God,  our  Maker,  loveth  best; 
Such  the  worship  that  upraises 
Human  hearts  to  heavenly  rest. 
Amen. 


HENRY  SIMMONS  FRIEZE, 


A  MEMOEIAL  ADDEESS 


BY 


PRESIDENT  JAMES  B.  ANGELL,  LL.  D. 


Gentlemen  of  the  University  Senate: 

We  hav^e  gathered  here  to-day  with  that  deep  sense 
of  loss,  which  has  weighed  so  heavily  upon  us  for  the 
past  few  weeks.  Daily  as  we  enter  these  grounds  or 
pass  through  these  halls,  we  miss  the  elastic  step,  the 
radiant  face,  the  genial  word  of  him  who  for  more  than 
a  generation  as  the  inspiring  teacher,  the  helpful  col- 
league, the  charming  friend  lias  left  a  benediction  on 
every  life  he  has  touched.  For  five  and  thirty  years  he 
has  >  formed  so  large  a  part  of  tlie  University  that  we 
who  are  left  behind  feel  in  our  sorrow  and  privation  as 
though  a  portion  of  the  very  life  of  the  University  had 
been  cleft  away.  His  loving  and  lovable  nature  drew 
those  of  us  who  had  known  him  longest  and  best  so 
close  to  him  that  it  often  seems  to  us  as  thouijli  in  his 
death  something  was  riven  from  tlie  inmost  being  of 
each  of  us. 

We  have  felt  that  we  could  not  deny  ourselves  tlie  sad 
pleasure  of   coming  up  to  this   place,  where    we    liave 


10 

listened  in  days  gone  by  to  his  words  of  instruction  and 
cheer,  to  recall  the  chief  events  of  his  life  and  the  traits 
of  his  character,  and  to  express  our  appreciation  of  the 
man  and  of  his  great  services  to  the  University.  In 
accepting  your  invitation  to  speak  in  your  behalf  on  this 
occasion,  I  am  painfully  aware  how  inadequate  an  idea 
any  picture  I  can  dra^v  can  give  to  a  stranger,  of  the 
combination  of  beauty  and  of  power,  which  was  found 
in  his  delicate  and  noble  souL  But  I  am  sure  that  the 
memories  of  his  old  friends  will  fill  the  outline  which 
I  may  sketch  with  a  more  lifelike  portrait  than  pen  or 
pencil  or  chisel  can  produce. 

Henry  Simmons  Frieze  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass., 
Sept.  15,  1817,  where  his  father,  Jacob  Frieze,  resided 
for  a  brief  period.  His  great  grandfather  was  German 
by  birth.  His  father,  who  was  a  native,  and  for  most 
of  his  life  a  resident,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  was  a  man  of 
marked  intellectual  vigor.  The  years  of  the  early  man- 
hood of  Jacob  Frieze  were  given  to  teaching.  Then  he 
entered  the  ministry  of  the  Universalist  denomination, 
and  preached  until  an  affection  of  the  throat  compelled 
him  to  desist.  He  was  settled  over  parishes  in  Milford 
and  Marlboro,  Mass.,  and  Pawtucket,  R.  I.  Later  he 
was  engaged  in  editorial  work  on  newspapers  in  Provi- 
dence, and  distinguished  himself  in  the  production  of 
political  pamphlets,  an  agency  which  fifty  years  ago 
was  largely  employed  in  political  compaigns  in  Rhode 
Island,  as  it  had  formerly  been  in  England.  He  wielded 
a  sharp  and  caustic  pen  and  was  a  formidable  antagon- 
ist in  debate.  He  played  a  considerable  part  within  my 
recollection  in  the  public  affairs  of  Rhode  Island. 
From   him  the  son  inherited  his  intellectual   activity, 


11 

and  also  his  courage,  in  whicli,  with  all  his  gentleness 
of  manner,  he  was  by  no  means  wanting.  From  him 
too  he  inherited  his  musical  gifts.  But  from  his  mother, 
Betsey  Slade,  of  Somerset,  Mass.,  a  woman  of  devout, 
sweet,  and  retiring  nature,  he  received  that  delicacy,  and 
gentleness,  and  modesty,  which  were  so  characteristic  of 
him.  The  influences  in  the  home  were  both  stimulating 
and  refining. 

But  circumstances  required  the  boy  to  become  at  an 
early  age  a  bread-winner.  While  yet  a  lad,  he  was 
placed  as  a  clerk  with  an  excellent  Christian  man  in 
Providence,  for  whom  he  ever  retained  a  strong  affec- 
tion. His  taste  and  talent  for  music  made  him  some- 
what conspicuous  as  a  musician,  while  he  was  still 
young.  Finding  a  remunerative  position  at  Newport  as 
organist  and  teacher  of  music,  he  removed  thither.  By 
the  urgent  advice  of  some  of  his  cultivated  friends  in 
that  city,  who  recognized  his  talent  and  his  promise,  he 
formed  the  purpose,  though  not  until  he  was  nearly 
nineteen  years  of  age,  of  gaining  a  college  education. 
While  supporting  himself  by  the  exercise  of  his  musical 
gifts  he  hastily  and  imperfectly  prepared  himself  for 
college  in  the  school  of  Joseph  Joslin.  During  his  resi- 
dence at  Newport  he  was  confirmed  as  a  communicant 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  to  whose  interests 
he  was  in  the  most  catholic  spirit  devoted  through  his 
whole  life. 

In  September,  1837,  when  he  was  just  entering  on  his 
twenty-first  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Freshman  class 
in  Brown  University.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  students 
in  the  class.  He  used  to  say  that  the  recollection  of  the 
amiable  leniency  of  his  examiners,  to  which  he  thought 


12 

he  owed  his  admission,  always  inclined  him  to  be  char- 
itable in  judging  the  applicants  who  in  all  these  years 
came  to  him  to  be  examined  in  Latin  for  entrance  to 
this  University.  Though  he  was  at  first  somewhat 
embarrassed  in  his  college  work  by  his  lack  of  thorough 
instruction  in  school — since  from  the  age  of  twelve  or 
thirteen  to  the  age  of  nineteen  he  had  been  constantly 
engaged  in  earning  his  livelihood — his  talent  and  indus- 
try soon  placed  him  at  the  head  of  his  class,  the  position 
which  he  held  at  graduation.  His  work  was  excellent 
in  all  departments,  but  especially  in  the  languages. 
He  had  less  aptitude  for  mathematics  than  for  other 
branches,  but  by  dint  of  his  diligence,  he  succeeded  well 
even  in  his  mathematical  studies.  One  of  his  classmates. 
Rev.  Dr.  Kendall  Brooks,  writes  me,  "  he  had  great  dig- 
nity, not  only  of  manner,  but  of  spirit  also,  and  while 
he  was  not  intimate  with  many  students,  he  was  pro- 
foundly respected  by  every  one."  He  was  organist  and 
chorister  of  St.  John's  church,  and  Superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  School  during  his  entire  college*  course.  He 
was  enabled  by  his  services  as  organist  and  as  a  teacher 
of  music  to  pay  his  college  expenses  and  to  assist  needy 
relatives.  It  is  clear  that  he  must  have  been  very  indus- 
trious to  maintain  his  high  college  rank  and  to  perform 
so  much  outside  labor.  Moreover  during  a  part  of  his 
Junior  year,  owing  to  some  disease  of  his  eyes,  he  was 
unable  to  use  them  in  study.  Many  of  his  lessons  he 
learned  by  having  them  read.  Having  received  the 
highest  honor  at  the  Junior  exhibition,  the  Latin  ora- 
tion, he  was  unable  to  touch  pen  to  paper  in  the  prepar- 
ation of  it,  but  dictated  the  whole  of  it.  In  all  his  col- 
lege days  he  was  conspicuously  active  and  faitliful  in 


13 

the  exercise  of  a  positive  Christian  influence.  During 
his  Senior  year  there  came  upon  him  the  gravest  of  sor- 
rows in  the  sudden  death  of  one  who  was  dearer  to  him 
than  his  own  life.  He  bowed  with  Christian  submission 
to  the  heavy  affliction,  but  the  chastening  memory  of  it 
long  left  its  impress  upon  him.  The  accounts  that  we 
get  of  his  undergraduate  career  give  us  the  picture  of  a 
gifted,  earnest,  devout,  hard  working  and  successful  stu- 
dent, who  was  learning  not  only  what  the  college  whose 
standards  were  high  and  exacting,  could  teach,  but  also 
the  self-reliance  and  discipline,  which  dependence  on 
his  own  toil  for  support  and  sore  providential  trials 
brought  him  in  large  measure. 

Immediately  on  his  graduation  he  was  appointed 
Tutor  in  Brown  University,  and  held  that  position  for 
three  years.  His  duties  consisted  mainly  in  the  teach- 
ing of  Latin.  Rev.  Dr.  Fisher,  of  the  Yale  Theological 
Seminary,  who  was  one  of  his  pupils  at  that  time,  writes 
thus  of  his  recollections  of  the  young  tutor's  instr:uction. 

"His  scholarship  appeared  to  me  to  be  faultless. 
Nothing  in  the  author  whom  we  studied  escaped  his 
attention.  It  was  impossible  for  any  one  of  us  to  pre- 
pare perfectly  for  a  recitation.  There  would  be  ques- 
tions, fair  questions  too,  which  we  had  not  foreseen. 
His  ideal  of  accuracy  it  was  in  vain  for  us  to  attempt  to 
reach.  He  always  followed  the  translation  made  by  a 
student  with  a  translation  of  his  own;  and  this  was  uni- 
formly, if  not  more  correct,  more  tasteful  and  finished 
than  any  of  us  by  the  utmost  painstaking  could  present. 
Mr.  Frieze  was  a  gentleman,  and  had  a  certain  refine- 
ment and  reserve  which  kept  off  undue  familiarity.  I 
think  of  him,  as  I  always  liave  thought,  as  a  teacher  of 


14 

are  qualifications.  I  owe  him  a  debt  wliich  it  has  ever 
given  me  much  pleasure  to  acknowledge." 

In  1 844  Mr.  Frieze  became  associated  with  a  classmate 
in  the  conduct  of  the  University  Grammar  School  in 
Providence,  and  continued  in  that  work  for  the  next  ten 
years. 

In  1847  a  happy  marriage  gave  him  the  delights  of  a 
home,  which  with  his  affectionate  nature  he  was  so  fitted 
to  enjoy  and  to  gladden.*  Though  our  hearts  run  out 
with  tender  est  sympathy  to  his  stricken  wife  and  daugh- 
ters, we  may  not  invade  the  sanctity  of  their  fresh  grief 
even  to  describe  the  sweet  and  beautiful  spirit  of  domes- 
tic love,  which  has  lent  such  a  charm  to  the  quiet  life 
of  their  home. 

The  University  Grammar  School  was  composed  largely 
of  pupils  who  were  preparing  to  enter  Brown  Univer- 
sity. It  soon  acquired  a  most  enviable  reputation.  It 
was  my  good  fortune  to  enter  that  school  in  the  late 
autumn  of  1844,  and  to  enjoy  the  instruction  of  Mr. 
Frieze  in  Greek  and  Latin  until  the  following  July. 
No  event  of  my  life  ever  gave  me  a  stronger  intellectual 
stimulus  than  the  contact  with  that  inspiring  young 
teacher  during  those  few  months.  My  heart  was  at 
once  bound  to  him  with  an  affection  which  has  grown 
stronger  and  stronger  through  these  five  and  forty  years. 
Such  teaching  as  his  was  a  revelation  to  me.  How  con- 
tagious was  his  literary  enthusiasm!  So  brilliant,  so 
stirring,  so  inspiring  was  all  his  instruction,  that  the 
class  seemed  to  be  surcharged  with  his  wonderful  ner- 
vous   activity.      When   in  reciting  the   lesson  we  had 

•August  16, 1847,  he  married  Miss  Anna  B.  Soffee,  of  Providence.  The  widow  and 
two  daughters  survive  liim. 


15 

exhausted  our  slender  stock  of  knowledge,  which  after 
diligent  study  we  had  supposed  with  some  complacency 
to  be  of  considerable  value,  how  were  w^e  often  startled 
by  a  whole  volley  of  questions,  partly  revealing  what 
was  new  to  us,  and  still  more  stimulating  us  to  search 
before  the  next  day  for  what  was  not  revealed.  When 
the  exercise  was  closed,  the  blood  was  in  our  faces  and 
our  hearts  were  beating  fast  as  though  we  had  come 
from  a  contest  on  the  ball  ground.  How  vividly  I  recall 
him  in  the  beauty  of  early  manhood,  as,  with  his  dark, 
rich,  curly  locks,  falling  on  his  neck,  his  eyes  gleaming 
through  his  spectacles,  he  conducted  his  classes.  He 
paced  almost  constantly  up  and  down  the  platform. 
Now  and  then  he  halted  suddenly  to  pierce  some  stupid 
blunder  with  a  sharp  question  as  with  a  winged  arrow, 
or  again  when  we  made  a  happy  rendering  of  some  fine 
passage  in  Vergil  his  face  beamed  with  a  radiance  which 
was  our  sufiicient  reward.  His  mien  and  bearing  seemed 
to  impart  to  the  class  and  to  the  whole  school  the  spirit 
of  his  ovei'flowing  vitality  and  scholarly  enthusiasm. 
He  seemed  to  me  the  ideal  teacher. 

It  is  not  strange  that  when  in  1854  a  vacancy  occurred 
in  the  chair  of  Latin  in  this  University,  Professor  Boise, 
who  had  been  familiar  with  Mr.  Frieze's  career  as  a  stu- 
dent and  a  teacher  should  have  directed  the  attention  of 
the  University  authorities  to  his  friend.  Mr.  Frieze  was 
at  once  appointed  to  the  position  which  he  held  until  the 
day  of  his  death.  It  was  a  rare  fortune  which  brought 
to  the  University  in  its  early  days  two  such  classical 
teachers  as  Professors  Boise  and  Frieze.  They  so 
impressed  themselves  upon  the  Institution  in  its  plastic 
and  formative  days,  they  so  commended  the  value  of  the 


16 

studies  committed  to  their  care,  they  invested  what  were 
often  contemptuously  and  ignorantly  called  "  the  dead 
languages"  with  such  a  charm,  they  so  illustrated  in 
their  own  minds  the  cultivating  and  refining  power  of 
the  ancient  literatures  that  from  the  very  beginning  of 
their  labors  an  enthusiastic  love  for  classical  culture 
was  nurtured  in  this  University,  and  it  has  continued  to 
this  day. 

After  discharging  the  duties  of  his  new  chair  for  a 
year,  Professor  Frieze  obtained  leave  of  absence  in  order 
to  gratify  a  long  cherished  desire  of  visiting  Europe  for 
the  purposes  of  observation  and  study.  His  mind  so 
keenly  appreciative  of  all  the  beauties  of  art  and  of 
nature,  and  so  thoroughly  trained  and  disciplined,  reaped 
the  most  abundant  fruits  from  the  visit  abroad.  He 
attended  lectures  at  the  University  of  Berlin,  afterwards 
visited  Italy,  and  returned  homeward  through  France 
and  England.  Before  he  started.  President  Tappan  had 
imparted  to  him  something  of  his  enthusiastic  admira- 
tion for  German  scholarship  and  German  methods  of 
education.  What  he  saw  with  his  own  eyes  more  than 
confirmed  his  previous  impressions  of  the  great  excel- 
lence of  the  German  gymnasial  and  university  training, 
and  after  his  return  he  never  ceased  to  commend  the 
application  of  German  methods,  so  far  as  practicable,  to 
the  work  of  our  high  schools  and  universities.  One 
can  imagine  rather  than  describe  what  delights  and 
inspirations  a  European  journey  furnished  to  a  soul  with 
such  a  passion  as  his  for  music  as  well  as  for  the  beau- 
ties of  painting  and  sculpture  and  architecture.  Presi- 
dent White,  who  was  one  of  his  travelling  companions 
in  Germany  and  Italy,  writes  to  me  with  a  delighted 


17 

recollection  of  Mr.  Frieze's  animated  and  instructive 
conversation  on  questions  of  Roman  life  and  character, 
and  especially  on  music,  and  says,  "  I  have  always 
believed  that  had  he  been  born  in  Germany  he  would 
have  ranked  with  great  composers  and  performers." 
He  tells  a  pleasing  story  of  their  travelling  on  a  train 
from  Dresden  to  Prague  with  some  Bohemian  soldiersJ^l) 
who  were  singing  :piftwtw>tini-^  songs,  and  Mr.  YriezeMuM^ 
jotted  down  the  notes  as  they  sang,  and  reproduced  the! 
songs  afterwards.  Nothing  that  was  worth  seeing  or 
hearing,  we  may  be  sure,  escaped  his  alert  and  active 
mind.  We  who  are  so  familiar  with  the  extraordinary 
skill  which  he  attained  as  an  organist  and  a  pianist,  and 
with  some  of  his  musical  compositions,  cannot  deem 
President  White's  estimate  of  his  musical  ability  at  all 
extravagant. 

At  his  suggestion  the  Regents  placed  a  sum  of  money 
at  his  disposal  for  the  purchase  in  Europe  of  casts,  sta- 
tuettes, and  photographs  illustrativ^e  of  arclia3ology  and 
ancient  art.  Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  our 
Museum  of  Art,  for  whose  subsequent  development  he 
worked  so  assiduously  during  the  years  that  followed. 
Its  growth  has  been  due  more  to  his  labors  than  to  those 
of  any  other  person.  It  was  largely  through  his  influence 
that  the  eminent  sculptor,  Randolph  Rogers,  decided  to 
give  us  the  casts  of  his  works,  and  that  other  valuable 
works  of  art  have  been  presented  to  the  University. 

He  brought  back  from  Europe  higher  ideals  of  his 
own  work  and  much  broader  conceptions  of  the  function 
of  this  University.  He  used  in  conversation  to  reproach 
himself  that  when  in  1851  Dr.  Wayland,  unfolded 
his  large  views  of  what  our  American  colleges  and  uni- 


18 

versities  should  attempt,  he  had  not  acquired  breadth 
enough  to  sympathize  with  the  ideas  of  that  great  teacher. 
But  after  coming  here  he  was  awakened  by  President 
Tappan's  vigorous  expositions  of  educational  doctrines, 
which  were  quite  in  harmony  with  those  of  Dr.  Way- 
land,  to  a  clear  perception  of  their  worth.  After  his 
observation  of  European  universities  he  was  ever  an 
enthusiastic  supporter  of  the  jplans  on  which  fortunately 
for  us  our  first  President  shaped  the  life  of  this  Univer- 
sity during  the  eleven  years  of  his  administration. 

The  spolia  opima  which  he  brought  from  his  literary, 
aesthetic  and  archaeological  studies  abroad  added  a  new 
charm  to  his  teaching.  In  his  presence,  in  his  class- 
room, even  the  raw  and  untrained  student  felt  at  once 
the  subtle  influence  of  the  spirit  of  culture,  which  eman- 
ated from  the  instructor.  The  fineness  of  literary  per- 
ception, the  delicacy  of  taste,  which  revealed  themselves 
through  all  his  interpretation  of  the  ancient  masters  of 
thought,  polished  and  elevated,  while  they  instructed  the 
class.  His  exalted  ethical  nature  led  him  also  to  impress 
upon  his  pupils  without  cant  or  platitudes,  but  in  the 
most  natural  and  effective  manner,  the  moral,  the  heroic 
qualities  of  the  ancient  characters  of  whom  they  were 
reading.  He  made  these  characters  living,  real  persons, 
who  had  their  messages  for  our  times  and  for  us.  The 
old  literature  was  made  vital  with  a  fresh  and  throb- 
bing life,  that  poured  its  currents  into  the  lives  of  the 
youthful  students  of  our  day.  "Withal  there  was  in 
him  the  inexpressible  charm  of  the  finest  breeding, 
which  wielded  a  power  mightier  than  that  of  offic- 
ial authority  even  over  the  rudest  and  most  unculti- 
vated student.     How  many  a  graduate  have  we  heard 


19 

say  that  two  impressions  above  all  they  brought  from 
Professor  Frieze's  class-room,  namely,  that  he  was  the 
perfect  gentleman,  and  that  he  had  the  finest  culture. 
Who  can  measure  the  refining  influence  of  such  a  mind 
and  character  on  the  hundreds  of  men  and  women  who 
have  passed  under  his  hands. 

He  not  only  won  the  admiration  of  his  pupils  as  the 
accomplished  scholar  and  gentleman,  but  he  also  won 
their  affection  as  their  most  faithful  friend.  His  sym- 
pathy Avas  so  quick  and  expressive  that  they  were  drawn 
to  him  with  a  strong  attachment.  In  his  later  years 
this  love  of  his  students  for  him  was  mingled  with  a  sort 
of  tender  and  filial  reverence,  which  it  was  very  charm- 
ing to  behold.  It  would  have  been  simply  impossible 
for  any  one  of  them  designedly  to  do  anything  which 
would  have  caused  him  the  least  annoyance  or  to  with- 
hold any  service  which  would  afford  him  gratification. 
This  affectionate  devotion  of  his  pupils  was  to  him,  as 
it  is  to  every  teacher,  the  most  gratifying  reward  of  all 
his  labors. 

On  the  resignation  of  President  Haven,  in  1869,  he 
was  appointed  Acting  President  of  the  University.  His 
characteristic  modesty  led  him  to  hesitate  about  accept- 
ing the  position,  but  he  finally  yielded  to  the  persuasion 
of  the  Board  of  Regents.  The  two  years  during  which 
he  was  the  chief  executive  were  marked  by  important 
events  in  the  history  of  the  Institution. 

In  1870  women  were  admitted  to  all  departments  of 
the  University.  This  step  was  taken  by  the  Regents 
rather  in  deference  to  public  opinion  than  to  the  wishes 
of  the  Faculties.  I  think  that  Professor  Frieze,  like 
most  of   his  colleagues,  assented  to  the   action  of   the 


Regents  rather  than  urged  it.  To  tell  the  truth,  there 
were  many  misgivings  here  on  the  ground  concerning 
the  experiment  of  admitting  women  to  these  halls.  But 
Mr.  Frieze  and  his  colleagues  generally  soon  became 
convinced  that  the  action  of  the  Board  was  wise  and  he 
did  all  in  his  power  to  make  the  experiment  successful. 
I  never  heard  him  speak  of  the  presence  of  women  in 
the  University  except  with  the  greatest  satisfaction. 
Another  important  step  was  due  altogether  to  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Acting  President.  That  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  so-called  diploma  relation  with  the 
preparatory  schools.  The  plan  which  he  proposed  and 
which  was  adopted  in  1871  was  an  adaptation  to  our 
circumstances  of  the  German  method  of  receiving  stu- 
dents into  the  universities  from  the  gynmasiums.  No 
measure  has  been  adopted  by  the  University  authorities 
in  many  years  which  has  been  more  beneficial  to  both 
the  University  and  the  schools,  and  none  which  has  been 
more  widely  or  profitably  imitated  by  other  universities. 
It  was  owing  to  the  prompt  action  of  Dr.  Frieze  and 
the  generosity  of  his  friend,  Philo  Parsons,  that  the 
library  of  Professor  Rau,  of  Heidelberg,  was  secured  for 
us.  It  was  at  the  instance  of  the  Acting  President  that 
the  age  for  admission  to  the  Literary  Department  was 
raised  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years,  that  music  was 
introduced  into  the  chapel  service,  that  the  custom  of 
furnishing  a  dinner  to  the  alumni  and  friends  of  the 
University  on  Commencement  Day  was  introduced,  and 
that  with  the  hope  of  creating  a  common  interest 
between  the  several  departments  an  attempt  was  made, 
though  afterwards  abandoned,  to  observe  a  University 
Day  by  public  exercises.     It  was  during  his  term  of 


21 

office  that  the  legislature  voted  the  sum  of  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of  the  main  building 
between  the  two  wings  of  University  Hall,  and  so  estab- 
lished the  happy  precedent  which  every  subsequent 
leorislature  has  followed  in  furnishino;  liberal  means  for 
the  erection  of  needed  buildings  for  the  University. 
The  power  of  Dr.  Frieze's  active  and  fertile  mind  was 
felt  in  every  department  of  the  Institution.  He  was 
afterwards  twice  called  to  the  position  of  Acting  Presi- 
dent during  the  absence  of  the  President,  once  serving 
from  June,  1880,  to  February,  1882,  and  again  from 
October,  1887,  to  January,  1888.  The  heavy  wear  and 
tear  of  administrative  labors  from  1869  to  1871,  ren- 
dered perhaps  more  difficult  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
known  to  be  discharging  them  only  temporarily,  made 
a  serious  draught  upon  his  not  very  robust  constitution. 
No  sooner  was  an  incumbent  of  the  Presidency,  whom  he 
with  the  partiality  of  early  friendship  had  commended, 
chosen  by  the  Regents,  than  he  sought  and  obtained 
leave  of  absence  in  order  to  visit  Europe  again.  He 
and  his  family  remained  abroad  two  years.  He  spent 
his  first  winter  at  Tubingen,  diligently  studying  San- 
skrit under  that  great  scholar.  Professor  Roth,  attending 
lectures  at  his  pleasure  in  the  University  of  Tubingen, 
and  mingling  freely  in  society  with  the  professors.  He 
afterwards  spent  a  long  time  at  the  charming  spot,  which 
President  Tappan  subsequently  chose  as  his  home,  Vevey. 
He  travelled  through  Switzerland,  went  again  to  the 
chief  Italian  cities,  remained  for  several  weeks  at  Mu- 
nich, and  visited  among  other  j^laces  Paris,  Dusseldorf, 
Berlin  and  Oxford.  His  object  in  this  tour  was  not  so 
much  to  devote  himself  to  study,  as  to  seek  tranquil 


^2 

enjoyment  and  recuperation  in  the  midst  of  beautiful 
scenery  and  those  aesthetic  delights  which  iine  music  and 
the  galleries  of  art  afforded  him.  He  came  home  in  the 
summer  of  1873,  refreshed  and  invigorated,  and  ready 
to  resume  with  zest  the  duties  of  his  chair. 

After  his  return,  his  ideal  of  the  proper  work  of  his 
department  and  of  the  University  was  even  broader  and 
richer  than  before.  He  gave  instruction  to  advanced 
classes  chiefly  in  the  works  of  Tacitus,  of  Seneca,  and  of 
Pliny  the  Younger.  He  lectured  and  commented  on 
these  authors  in  a  very  free,  large,  and  suggestive  man- 
ner. He  discoursed  with  equal  fervor  on  the  pregnant, 
comjjact,  sententious  style  of  Tacitus,  on  the  lofty  ethics 
of  the  stoic  philosophy  as  interpreted  by  Seneca,  and  on 
the  high  breeding  and  varied  culture  of  that  fine  Roman 
gentleman,  the  proconsul  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia.  He 
has  also  lectured  for  many  years  past  on  the  history  of 
ancient  art.  He  found  opportunity  to  set  forth  in  his 
lectures  the  functions  of  the  several  fine  arts,  to  ex- 
pound the  canons  of  art -criticism,  to  direct  his  pupils  to 
the  illustrations  of  art  to  be  found  in  our  library  and 
our  museum  of  art,  and  to  give  them  the  results  of  his 
careful  and  appreciative  studies  in  the  museums  of 
Europe. 

In  his  teaching  of  Latin  authors,  though  he  always 
insisted  on  that  accurate  grammatical  knowledge,  with- 
out which  one  cannot  be  said  to  know  a  language,  and 
though  he  did  not  in  the  least  undervalue  the  impor- 
tance of  exhaustive  philological  training  for  some  stu- 
dents, he  was  always  inclined,  as  has  been  intimated,  to 
concentrate  the  attention  of  his  pupils  chiefly  on  the 
literary  and  ethical  lessons  to  be  drawn  from  the  Latin 


writers.  These  lessons,  he  believed,  were  what  all 
except  the  few  who  were  to  be  technical  philologists 
most  needed.  More  and  more  in  his  later  years  he  was 
disposed  to  emphasize  this  idea.  He  insisted  that  Latin 
should  be  so  taught  as  to  form  a  solid  foundation  for 
the  literary  culture  of  college  students,  and  that  the 
importance  of  so  teaching  it  was  rapidly  increasing  from 
the  fact  that,  especially  in  the  west,  large  numbers  read 
Latin,  who  reacJ  no  Greek.  He  was  ever  urging  pupils 
to  take  Greek  with  the  Latin.  He  regretted  the  ten- 
dency among  classical  teachers  to  confine  themselves  to 
one  of  these  two  ancient  languages.  He  thought  that 
by  excessive  specializing  in  their  work  they  incurred  the 
danger  of  becoming  narrow,  and  that  it  would  be  better 
if,  as  in  German  universities,  our  classical  professors 
gave  some  instruction  in  both  literatures.  But  upon  no 
point  was  he  accustomed  to  dwell  in  these  later  years 
with  so  much  fervor  as  upon  the  transcendent  impor- 
tance of  teaching  Latin  literature  not  merely  as  a  col- 
lection of  works  of  gifted  men,  but  as  the  expression  of 
the  life  of  the  great  Roman  nation,  uttering  itself  in 
history,  philosophy  and  poetry.  Upon  the  exposition  of 
it  he  would  turn  all  the  illumination  to  be  furnished  by 
Roman  archaeology  and  Roman  art.  According  to  his 
conception  it  was  not  Latin  that  we  should  study  so 
much  as  Roman,  the  achievements,  the  spirit,  the  vital 
power  of  the  Roman  race.  Nor  should  we  teach  and 
study  the  literature  of  Rome  with  whatever  enthusiasm 
and  admiration  merely  as  a  beautiful  creation  of  a  dead 
past,  but  rather  as  the  flowering  of  an  imperishable  life, 
whose  vital  currents  have  been  flowing  through  all  the 
western  civilization  of  these  eighteen  centuries,  and  are 


fi4 

still  beating  in  the  pulses  of  this  nineteenth  century.  It 
was  the  Rome,  which  has  persisted  with  a  power  that  no 
Goth  or  Vandal  could  overcome,  the  Rome  which  helps 
shape  and  fertilize  our  art,  our  laws,  our  literatures  to- 
day, the  Rome  which  bids  fair  to  endure  when  every 
vestige  of  her  proudest  material  structures  shall  have 
crumbled  into  dust,  it  was  that  great,  that  glorious, 
that  immortal  Rome,  which  he  sought  to  recreate  for  his 
loving  pupils. 

Dr.  Frieze  discharged  the  debt  which  every  man  is 
said  to  owe  to  his  profession  by  preparing  editions  of 
the  complete  works  of  Vergil,  and  of  the  tenth  and 
twelfth  books  of  Quintilian.  These  made  his  name  famil- 
iar to  students  throus-hout  the  land.  His  accurate  schol- 
arship  and  his  fine  literary  spirit  here  as  elsewhere  charac- 
terized his  work  and  commended  it  to  the  approbation  of 
our  best  classical  scholars.  His  edition  of  Quintilian  was 
the  first  prepared  to  meet  the  wants  of  American  students. 
He  had  a  marked  foundness  for  Vergil.  I  have  some- 
times thought. — perhaps  it  is  only  a  fancy — that  he  was 
drawn  to  the  old  Latin  poet  by  a  certain  resemblance 
between  their  characters.  All  the  traditions  depict  the 
bard  of  Mantua  as  endowed  not  only  with  a  graceful 
and  beautiful  mind,  but  also  with  a  sweet,  gentle,  modest, 
affectionate  nature,  that  bound  friends  to  him  by  the 
strongest  ties.  I  am  sure  there  are  some  of  us  here,  who 
in  the  sense  of  our  great  personal  loss  have  found  spring- 
ing to  our  lips  those  words  of  Horace  concerning  his 
friend,  "  animcB  dimidium  mece^  We  should  certainly 
place  him  in  the  group  of  friends,  to  whom  we  should 
apply  those  other  words  in  which  Horace  speaks  of  Ver- 
gil, Plotius  and  Varius, 


25 

"  Animae,  quales  neque  candidiores 
Terra  tulit,  neque  quis  me  sit  devinctior  alter." 

Dr.  Frieze  wrote  three  years  ago  a  charming  litlle 
volume  which  was  published  in  London  on  Giovanni 
Dupre,  the  eminent  Italian  sculptor.  It  set  forth  in 
flowing  and  simple  style  the  story  of  Dupre's  art  life, 
and  revealed  the  author  in  every  page  as  the  sympathetic 
and  appreciative  lover  of  whatever  is  pure  and  true  in 
sculpture.  It  contained  also  the  translation  of  two  lec- 
tures on  Art  from  the  pen  of  Dupre's  friend,  Augusto 
Conti,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the  University  of 
Florence,  and  President  of  the  Academy  Delia  Crusca. 
The  book  has  been  received  with  much  fsLvor  by  lovers 
of  art  both  in  England  and  in  this  country.  The  prep- 
aration and  publication  of  it  led  to  a  correspondence 
between  the  writer  and  Professor  Conti,  which  was  very 
gratifying  to  our  friend. 

Two  of  Dr.  Frieze's  addresses  may  be  here  mentioned 
as  especially  worthy  of  notice.  One  was  his  discourse 
on  Dr.  Tappan,  delivered  in  1882,  and  the  other  was  his 
discourse  on  the  Relations  of  the  State  University  to 
Religion,  given  at  our  semi-centennial  celebration  in 
1887.  The  former  furnishes  the  best  portraiture  ever 
made  of  the  first  President  of  the  University;  the  latter 
the  ablest  discussion  ever  bestowed  on  the  subject  it 
handles.  Both  give  us  fine  illustrations  of  the  author's 
broad  conception  of  the  function  of  a  State  University, 
and  of  his  incisive,  vigorous  and  effective  style  of  writing. 

Among  minor  productions  of  his  pen  may  be  named 
a  paper  on  Art  Museums  in  connection  with  Libraries, 
furnished  for  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  for  1870,  the  descriptive  Catalogue 
3 


26 

of  our  Art  Museum,  which  shows  the  maiks  of  much 
research,  and  felicitous  articles  in  the  Uni\  <  rsity  jour- 
nals on  deceased  professors.  The  last  article  from  his 
hand,  written  only  a  few  days  before  his  death  at  my 
urgent  request,  was  a  most  interesting  one  suggested  by 
the  presentation  to  our  gallery  of  the  statue  of  Gen. 
Cass,  and  published  in  the  Detroit  Free  Press. 

It  was  always  a  matter  of  regret  to  his  friends  that 
one  who  wrote  so  well  was  so  reluctant  to  write  for 
publication,  and  even  yet  more  reluctant  to  speak  in 
public.  His  modesty  led  him  to  underrate  the  value  of 
his  work,  and  he  was  extremely  averse  to  what  he  called 
the  drudgery  of  committing  his  thoughts  to  paper. 
Nothing  but  a  high  sense  of  duty  could  overcome  his 
almost  insuperable  reluctance,  due  in  large  part  to  his 
diffidence,  to  give  a  public  address. 

While  conducting  his  own  department  with  the  high- 
est aims.  Dr.  Frieze  was  ever  seeking  the  improvemen 
and  development  of  the  whole  University.  He  was  con 
tinually  urging  the  lifting  of  the  Institution  out  of  the 
narrow  ruts  of  a  small  local  college,  and  giving  it  the 
scope  and  elevation  and  power  of  a  national  University. 
He  never  came  so  near  the  manifestation  of  impatience 
verging  on  anger  as  when  some  policy  was  proposed, 
which,  he  thought,  would  bind  us  down  to  methods  that 
we  ought  long  ago  to  have  outgrown  and  abandoned. 
His  vision  was  ever  stretching  out  to  a  broad  horizon 
for  us.  He  took  a  most  active  part  in  the  important 
changes  which  were  made  in  the  Literary  Department 
between  1875  and  1880.  He  was  an  earnest  advocate 
of  the  plan  adopted  in  1874  of  conferring  Master's 
degrees  only  on  examination,  and  also  of  the  rule  allow- 


27 

ing  candidates  for  Bachelor's  degrees  to  concentrate 
their  work  in  the  latter  part  of  their  conrse  on  some 
three  branches  of  study.  lie  favored  warmly  the  intro- 
duction of  the  elective  system  into  the  courses  of  study 
under  the  limitations  which  are  how"  in  force.  He  was 
chiefly  instrumental  in  persuading  the  Regents  to  appoint 
a  professor  of  music  who  should  give  instruction  in  the 
history  and  theory  of  music,  and  in  inducing  the  citizens 
of  Ann  Arbor  to  establish  a  school  for  vocal  and  instru- 
mental practice.  Indeed,  during  all  the  years  of  his 
residence  here  he  was  ever  active  in  stimulating  both  in 
the  city  and  in  the  University  the  study  of  music. 

He  was  a  staunch  advocate  of  the  policy  of  preserving 
the  unity  and  integrity  of  the  University  by  retaining 
all  its  Departments  here.  Whenever  the  proposal  was 
made,  as  it  was  rei)eatedly  made  during  his  term  of  ser- 
vice, to  transfer  a  part  of  our  work  elsewhere,  he  most 
earnestly  opposed  it.  He  believed  profoundly  that  in 
the  concentration  of  all  our  forces  here  lay  our  hoj^e  of 
giving  the  greatest  efficiency  to  each  Department  and  to 
the  University  as  a  whole.  He  always  had  an  unbounded 
faith  in  the  future  of  this  Institution.  In  days  of  trial, 
of  disappointments,  of  unjust  criticism  of  the  Univer- 
sity, when  others  were  discouraged  and  despondent, 
although  such  misfortune  caused  his  sensitive  nature 
keen  suffering,  he  was  ahvays  full  of  hope  that  the 
clouds  would  soon  give  way  to  sunshine.  He  was  sure 
that  the  University  had  gained  such  headway  that  no 
obstacles  could  much  impede  its  progress.  He  believed 
that  it  was  so  deeply  intrenched  in  the  affection  of  the 
citizens  of  Michigan  that  tliey  would  not  suffer  it  to  be 
seriously  embarrassed.     How  often  have  I  heard  him  in 


28 

years  past  say  that  there  was  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  have  two  thousand  students,  and  express  liis  strong 
desire  to  live  to  see  such  an  attendance.  He  was  spared 
to  see  that  desire  gratified,  and  repeatedly  during  the 
early  weeks  of  this  University  year  he  dwelt  with 
delight  upon  the  fulfilment  of  his  prediction  .and  the 
granting  of  his  wish.  Not  that  he  ever  confounded 
bigness  with  greatness,  or  desired  the  reputation  of  the 
University  to  rest  upon  the  number  of  its  students 
rather  than  upon  the  excellence  of  its  work.  He  was 
ever  devising  means  to  improve  our  facilities  for  teach- 
ing and  for  elevating  the  character  of  our  instruction. 
But  he  felt  that  with  the  advantages  we  could  offer  we 
deserved  to  have  a  large  attendance,  and  that  such  a 
proof  of  success  as  the  presence  of  large  classes  affords 
was  a  source  of  strength  to  the  University. 

His  mind  was  extremely  fertile  in  suggestions  for 
developing  the  growth  and  increasing  the  usefulness  of 
this  Institution.  He  had  observed  keenly  and  studied 
carefully  the  colleges  and  universities  of  this  country 
and  of  other  countries,  and  had  reflected  much  on  the 
causes  of  their  failures  and  successes.  He  was  very  apt 
in  drawing  lessons  from  their  history.  He  seemed  to  be 
ever  busy  in  seeking  to  apply  those  lessons  to  our  con- 
ditions. In  all  these  eighteen  years  of  my  intimate  com- 
panionship with  him  here,  in  our  long  daily  walks 
together,  the  burden  of  his  conversation  was  that  topic. 
To  build  up  this  University,  that  was  "  his  meat  and 
his  drink,"  the  dominant  thought  of  his  life,  which 
seemed  never  to  be  absent  from  his  mind.  No  one  of 
the  many  faithful  teachers  under  this  roof  ever  gave 
himself  with  more  supreme  devotion,  body  and  soul,  to 


29 

the  interests  of  this  school  of  learning.  And  no  man 
since  the  days  of  that  great  leader,  who  gave  to  the  Uni- 
versity in  so  large  degree  its  present  form  and  spirit, 
Dr.  Tappan,  has  furnished  so  many  of  the  ideas  which 
have  shaped  and  enriched  its  life,  as  Dr.  Frieze.  Into 
its  life 'his  very  mind  and  heart  have  been  builded. 

Because  his  knowledge  of  university  problems  was 
so  large,  and  his  judgment  was  regarded  by  his  col- 
leagues as  so  sound,  he  has  always  exerted  a  strong 
influence  over  the  Literary  Faculty  and  over  the  whole 
University  Senate,  and  has  inspired  them  with  his  own 
hopefulness  concerning  the  future  of  the  Institution  and 
with  his  own  broad  views  of  university  education.  It 
need  hardly  be  said  that  with  his  generous  conception 
of  a  university,  he  cherished  ideals  which  have  not  yet 
been  realized.  He  looked  forward  with  fervent  desire 
and  with  strong  hope  to  the  establishment  of  a  school  of 
art  as  a  part  of  our  organization.  With  the  collections 
of  statuary  which  we  have  and  of  pictures  which  are  to 
come  to  us,  properly  housed  in  a  fitting  structure  spe- 
cially prepared  for  them,  he  l)elieved  that  we  miglit  well 
set  up  such  a  school.  He  also  longed  for  the  day  when 
we  might  relegate  to  the  pre])aratory  schools  or  to  col- 
leges the  work  now  done  in  the  first  year,  and  perhaps 
also  that  of  the  second  year  of  the  literary  course,  and 
organize  a  three  years  course  on  the  model  of  tlie  Ger- 
man universities.  If  that  })lan  should  remain  imprac- 
ticable, as  for  the  present  it  is,  he  favored  the  conferring 
of  the  Bachelor's  degree  at  the  end  of  three  years  of 
undergraduate  work,  so  that  students  might  also  com- 
plete their  professional  studies  before  they  were  too  far 
advanced    in   years.      He    advocated    this    plan    in    his 


30 

Report  as  Acting  President  in  1881  in  one. of  the  aT)leat 
papers  ever  pii])lished  on  that  snbject.  This  brief 
reliearsal  of  some  of  his  ideas  on  university  policy  may 
indicate  how  rich  his  mind  was  in  pregnant  suggestions, 
and  how  fertile  in  the  conception  of  generous  and  far- 
reaching  2)ians.  Few  men  in  this  country  comprehended 
so  thoroughly  the  problems  which  are  now  set  before 
the  American  universities,  or  saw  so  clearly  how  those 
problems  should  be  solved. 

I  have  thus  rapidly  sketched  an  outline  of  the  career 
of  Dr.  Frieze,  and  have  shown,  however  imperfectly, 
the  spirit  in  which  he  wrought  through  his  long  and 
beautiful  life.  The  chief  traits  of  his  mind  and  charac- 
ter are  familiar  to  us  all. 

His  mind  Avas  one  of  great  activity  and  marked  quick- 
ness of  apprehension.  Possessed  of  a  highly  nervous 
temperament,  he  had  a  certain  restlessness  of  body  and 
mind.  This  did  not  betray  him,  as  it  does  some,  into 
disjointed  and  fragmentary  work,  or  lead  him  to  hasty 
and  immature  decisions,  but  rather  revealed  itself  in  an 
intellectual  eagerness  and  alertness  and  celerity.  In  his 
best  days  his  enthusiasm  made  this  promptness  .  and 
vivacity  of  mental  action  contagious  and  highly  stimu- 
lating to  his  pupils. 

In  his  reading,  at  least  in  his  later  years,  he  followed 
the  old  maxim  of  "  multum^  non  jnultay  He  read  a 
few  masters  thoroughly  rather  than  many  books  super- 
ficially or  even  rapidly.  But  having  in  his  early  man- 
hood obtained  a  reading  knowledge  of  the  French, 
German,  Spanish,  and  Italian,  as  well  as  of  the  ancient 
classical  languages,  and  having  strong  literary  and  aes- 
thetic tastes,  his  studies  in  literature  and  in  the  history 


31 

of  art,  and  especially  of  music,  had  taken  a  pretty  wide 
range.  In  any  society  of  literary  scholars  or  artists  his 
well -stored  mind  was  sure  to  contribute  something  of 
value  and  of  interest  to  the  conversation.  He  left  upon 
them  as  upon  his  pupils  the  deep  impression  that  he  was 
a  man  of  rare  culture,  of  true  literary  instincts,  of  the 
finest  mental  texture,  of  rich  and  generous  attainments. 
But  his  literary  and  aesthetic  sense,  his  artistic  feeling, 
the  justness  of  his  critical  judgment  were  more  con- 
spicuous than  his  learning. 

Perhaps  no  trait  in  his  mental  constitution  was  more 
marked  than  his  lov^e  of  the  beautiful,  whether  in  art  or 
in  nature.  His  soul  was  sensitive  in  the  highest  degree 
to  any  appeal  which  beauty  made,  whether  through 
form  or  color  or  sound.  Architecture,  sculpture,  paint- 
ing, music,  in  all  he  delighted  with  the  passion  of  an 
artist.  His  love  of  nature  was  like  that  of  a  poet.  The 
grass,  the  flowers,  the  trees,  the  streams,  he  held  sweet 
commerce  with  them  all.  Never  was  he  happier  than 
in  his  long  rambles  through  the  woods  and  fields.  And 
liow  he  loved  our  woods  and  fields.  His  strong  local 
attachment  to  this  place,  which  was  always  finding 
utterance  in  his  conversation,  gave  him  an  enthusiasm 
about  the  scenery  of  this  neighborhood,  on  which  his 
friends  occasionally  rallied  him.  But  for  miles  around 
he  could  guide  you  to  every  "  coigne  of  vantage,"  every 
shady  nook,  every  meadow  carpeted  with  the  finest  turf, 
every  graceful  sweep  in  the  stream.  With  what  ardor 
he  would  in  your  walk  with  him  arrest  your  steps  again 
and  again,  to  dilate  upon  the  charms  of  the  bit  of  land- 
scape before  you.  Witli  wliat  zest  and  ])ride  he  would 
exclaim,  as  from  some  hill  top  he  cauglit  the  view  of  tlie 


82 

spires  and  towers  of  the  city,  "  it  is  really  finer  than  the 
view  of  Oxford  hanging  on  my  wall."  His  love  for  the 
town  and  the  University,  and  his  delight  in  the  pleasing 
scenery  about  us,  made  him  often  speak  with  gratitude 
of  the  kindly  Providence  which  had  cast  his  lot  in  what 
he  regarded  as  an  ideal  home. 

Dr.  Frieze's  character  was  marked  by  an  unusual 
combination  of  great  modesty — I  might  perhaps  say 
diffidence,  or  even  shyness — with  real  courage.  His 
modesty  sometimes  impressed  those  who  did  not  know 
him  well  as  timidity.  He  had  a  very  humble  estimate 
of  his  abilities  and  attainments.  This  diffidence  caused 
him  much  anxiety  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  work  as  a 
teacher.  Even  in  these  later  years  the  visit  of  strangers 
to  his  class  made  him  uncomfortable.  He  used  to  ask 
me  not  to  bring  visitors  to  his  lecture  room.  When  he 
had  some  important  suggestion  to  make  to  the  Faculty 
concerning  University  affairs,  he  often  persuaded  some 
one  else  to  present  it.  Only  when  he  was  convinced 
that  it  was  really  necessary,  often  not  until  he  was 
pressed  by  his  colleagues  for  his  opinion,  would  he 
speak  in  the  Faculty  meetings.  He  was  ready  enough 
to  express  his  views  on  any  subject  in  private  conversa- 
tion, but  had  the  most  unusual  reluctance  to  present 
them  formally  and  in  public.  But  in  the  Faculty  the 
respect  for  his  opinion  was  such  that  when  it  was  made 
known,  whether  through  the  lips  of  others  or  by  himself, 
it  carried  great  weight.  Yet,  notwithstanding  his  great 
modesty,  when  it  became  necessary  to  act  and  courage 
was  needed  for  the  act,  he  was  never  found  flinching 
from  duty.  He  disliked  controversy,  avoided  it  when 
possible,  and  often  averted  it  by  his  conciliatory  spirit. 


33 

But  in  great  crises  in  the  history  of  this  Institution, 
though  he  was  never  clamorous  in  deV)ate,  he  stood  at 
his  post  firm  as  a  rock  for  what  he  deemed  wise  and 
right,  whether  the  issue  was  with  insubordinate  students 
or  with  external  foes  of  the  University. 

He  was  eminently  social.  He  was  fond  of  the  society 
of  friends  with  tastes  congenial  to  his  own,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  charming  of  companions  and  truest  of  friends. 
He  loved  good  cheer.  His  conversation  was  vivacious 
and  sparkling.  His  bearing  was  refined  and  attractive. 
Utterly  free  from  all  censoriousness,  never  indulging  in 
acrid  criticisms  of  others,  his  affectionate,  generous 
nature  won  all  hearts  and  imparted  to  them  the  same 
genial  spirit  which  ever  dwelt  in  him.  He  was  a  most 
welcome  guest  in  every  household.  He  carried  sunshine 
into  every  company.  His  tender,  sympathetic,  loving 
nature,  gave  a  depth  and  richness  to  his  more  intimate 
friendship,  which  only  those  who  enjoyed  it  can  measure. 

The  religious  life  of  Dr.  Frieze  was  simple,  sincere 
and  beautiful.  Warmly  attached  to  his  own  branch  of 
the  church,  he  had  the  most  catholic  and  fraternal  feel- 
ing for  every  other  branch.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
papers  he  ever  wrote  was  a  plea  for  the  true  Christian 
union  of  all  believers,  which  he  prepared  about  a  year 
ago  for  the  Students'  Christian  Association.  His  faith 
was  singularly  childlike.  To  him  religion  was  not 
something  formal,  not  something  "  to  be  worn  on  the 
sleeve,"  or  obtrusively  talked  about  in  the  market  place, 
but  the  cheerful,  trustful,  reverent  spirit  of  the  Christian 
disciple,  moulding  and  inspiring  the  whole  life,  in  its 
pleasures  as  in  its  sorrows,  in  its  daily  routine  of  toil  as 
in  the  hours  of  worship  in  the  church.  The  vexed  ques- 
4 


34 

tions  of  pliilosophical,  scientific  and  theological  specula- 
tion did  not  disturb  the  serenity  of  his  soul.  He  under- 
stood their  import.  He  apj^reciated  and  lamented  the 
embarrassments  of  those  who  were  troubled  by  them. 
But  the  foundations  of  his  spiritual  life,  laid  deep  in  a 
loving  trust  of  his  Heavenly  Father,  and  in  the  joyful 
following  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  were  never  shaken 
by  the  storms  of  discussion,  which  in  this  age  beat  upon 
every  thoughtful  mind.  A  soul  more  naturally  and 
cheerfully  devout  than  his,  one  that  in  all  moods  and 
all  experiences  was  more  completely  transfused  with  the 
spirit  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  one  of  whom  we 
may  more  truly  say, 

"  Whose  Faith  and  work  w  ert'  lulls  of  lull  ucronl " 

I  have  never  known. 

And  so  death  had  no  terrors  for  him.  He  often  spoke 
of  it  to  me  as  one  speaks  of  a  coming  journey.  At  the 
bejrinninsr  of  each  of  the  last  two  or  three  winters  he 
has  deemed  it  not  improbable  that  bronchial  or  pul- 
monary complications  might  prove  fatal  to  him.  His 
chief  anxiety  seemed  to  be  not  about  himself,  but  about 
his  family,  and  about  his  department  of  work  in  the 
University.  After  the  death  of  his  dear  friend  and  as- 
sociate. Professor  Elisha  Jones,  to  whom  he  had  hoped 
to  leave  the  care  of  the  instruction  in  Latin,  he  was 
extremely  anxious  that  a  successor  in  sympathy  with 
his  views  of  the  conduct  of  the  Latin  work  should  be 
found  and  appointed.  After  his  wish  had  been  grat- 
ified, and  plans  for  the  conduct  of  his  department 
had  been  matured,  and  especially  when  the  University 
year  opened  so  prosperously,  he  was  extremely  happy. 


35 

Again  and  again  in  his  long  walks  with  me  in  the  early 
autumn  he  spoke  of  the  gracious  Providence  which  had 
during  his  life  cast  for  him  the  lines  in  so  pleasant 
places,  of  the  charming  memories  of  his  college  days, 
of  his  and  my  old-time  friends  in  Rhode  Island,  of  his 
pride  in  many  of  his  former  pupils,  and  especially  in 
those  who  had  become  his  colleagues  in  the  Faculty,  of 
the  early  struggles  of  the  University  and  of  his  confi- 
dent hope  of  its  future  prosperity.  Some  months  ago, 
after  much  ui-ging  on  ni}-  part,  I  obtained  from  him  a 
partial  promise  to  make  a  sketch  of  his  life,  a  promise 
which  unhappily  he  did  not  live  to  fulfill. 

He  began  the  labors  of  the  year  in  good  spirits,  and 
as  we  thought,  with  a  measure  of  strength  which  might 
at  least  carry  him  through  the  winter.  We  now  know 
that  the  insidious  and  fatal  disease  which  caused  his 
death  was  even  then  sapping  the  foundations  of  his  life. 
He  soon  took  a  grave  view  of  his  malady.  His  mind 
became  clouded  at  times.  But  it  was  pathetic  —  may 
we  not  say  characteristic  —  that  his  spirit  of  love  and 
tenderness  seemed  to  shape  his  visions  even  in  the  wan- 
derings of  his  mind.  His  attending  physician  has  told 
us  the  touching  story  how,  in  those  half  conscious  hours 
of  his  last  illness,  he  recited  with  apparent  delight  the 
names  of  associates  —  dear  as  pupils  and  colleagues  and 
friends  —  and  expressed  his  gratitude  that  they  had  so 
cheered  his  life.  Pure  and  loving  heart!  not  one  of  us 
ever  gave  to  thee  a  tithe  of  what  thou  gayest  to  us. 

And  now  after  all  that  I  liave  said,  after  all  that  any 
one  could  say,  I  feel  and  you  feel  how  far  short  my 
words  have  come,  or  any  words  can  come,  of  making  a 
complete  portraiture  of  our  friend.     There  was  some- 


36 

thing  in  his  winning  personality  that  eluded  analysis. 
There  was  in  him  a  certain  charm  of  soul,  which  cannot 
be  fully  depicted  with  such  an  instrument  as  human 
speech.  But  memory  will  preserve  for  us  the  sweet 
recollections  of  the  winsomeness  of  that  personality,  of 
the  attractiveness  of  that  spirit.  And  so  for  }ears  to 
come  his  radiant  presence  will  not  be  altogethei*  lost  to 
us.  And  so  long  as  this  University  shall  stand,  some- 
thing, we  may  hope,  of  the  benign  influence  of  this 
refined,  devoted,  noble  scholar  and  teacher  will  remain 
as  a  factor  in  its  life. 


LI) 


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